Moving from problems to solutions: A review of gender equality interventions at work using an ecological systems approach

Lau, Vienne Wing-yan; Scott, Veronica L.; Warren, Meg A.; Bligh, Michelle C.

doi:10.1002/job.2654

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 197 publications

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“…As Tracy and Rivera [59] found, enduring gender scripts are played out through talk and interaction, but there are likely some flickers of transformation worth pursuing. Ongoing training and conversations about these issues based on the understanding of the feelings and gendered organizing dynamics can help people design prototypes useful in the moment and then revise them for sustainable interventions that address systemic causes for the underrepresentation of women [8,18,60]. In these ways, we offer communication-centered implications that can change STEM conversations in sustainable ways [61].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing of Engineering Identities and Third Space

et al. 2023

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The questions of why there are so few women in engineering and how to change engineering cultures to be more inclusive have garnered much social scientific research and considerable funding. Despite numerous findings and interventions, no studies to our knowledge have analyzed how difference is constituted discursively, materially, and affectively in ways that are deeply embedded in engineering occupational and societal cultures. This study takes an affective gendered organizing approach to analyze how affect is constituted through emotions/talk, interactions, and materialities. Using constructivist grounded theory, we explored our interview data of 69 engineers (45 women and 24 men) to find three themes. The first describes women’s sensate experiences that underlie their expressions of (un)belongingness and (in)visibility. The second depicts men’s emotional labor to voice inclusion while enacting exclusion. The third pulls these feelings forward as the impetus for women’s constitution of feminist third spaces/places that operate as sites of collective emotional labor and resilience. Throughout we display the contradictory and essential embodiment of affect within individuals’ identities and as a sensemaking force that continues to constitute organizing systems of inequity. Taking an affective gendered organizing approach enables researchers and practitioners to respond more fully to the question of why inclusion is so difficult to achieve and to develop sustainable interventions for women’s career success in STEM.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing of Engineering Identities and Third Space

et al. 2023

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“…Given a lack of theory systematically explaining pragmatic barriers to allyship, we loosely apply ecological systems theory (EST; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998), a systems framework that has been employed to study a variety of social justice issues in which various factors across multiple levels of the system simultaneously impact the individual. For example, EST has been used to study gender career equality (Lau et al, 2022), disability inclusion (Moore et al, 2020), and racial inequality in women's health outcomes (Noursi et al, 2021). Just as a systems framework is invaluable for building a more complete understanding of inequality and bias, we argue that such a framework can bring into view myriad factors that hinder and enable allyship.…”

Section: Conceptualizing Allyship Barriers As Parts Of a Systemmentioning

confidence: 97%

“If you want to be an ally, what is stopping you?” Mapping the landscape of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual barriers to allyship in the workplace using ecological systems theory

Warren¹,

Warren²,

Bock³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Many claim to be allies to marginalized groups, yet few actively engage in allyship behaviors. We focus on this disconnect and explore what barriers hinder individuals’ allyship. Open-ended responses from two representative samples of employed individuals from Michigan (n = 778) and Canada (n = 973) were analyzed. The ecological systems framework was loosely applied to map intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual barriers to allyship from the perspectives of potential allies in their workplaces. Results were consistent across the two samples and revealed that about 19% of barriers arose from the organizational context (e.g., lack of training), and 8% arose from interpersonal dynamics (e.g., lack of coworker support). Among intrapersonal barriers, cognitive (9.5%) and motivational (9.5%) factors rose to the top; fewer responses pertained to personality (5%), social identity (5%), or emotional barriers (2%); 27.5% claimed no barriers. Given the predominance of the organizational context and workplace interpersonal barriers, as well as leaders’ ability to influence individuals’ cognitive and motivational (intrapersonal) barriers, this paper highlights the need for organizations to adopt a systems perspective. Organizations can play a stronger role in empowering and nurturing employees’ allyship and provide low-risk, structured opportunities for allyship action that simultaneously builds trusting relationships among coworkers.

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“…It is only by taking such steps that organizations and society can move forward to create a better and more equal workplace and world for all. For more information on gender issues in the workplace, see Fine et al (2020), and for a review of gender equity interventions, see Lau et al (2023).…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of leadership levels and gender on leader well-being.

Hu,

Zhang,

Jackson

2023

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

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Moving from problems to solutions: A review of gender equality interventions at work using an ecological systems approach

Abstract: has been submitted for publication but has not yet completed peer review.

Cited by 25 publications

References 197 publications

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing of Engineering Identities and Third Space

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing of Engineering Identities and Third Space

“If you want to be an ally, what is stopping you?” Mapping the landscape of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual barriers to allyship in the workplace using ecological systems theory

The effects of leadership levels and gender on leader well-being.

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